They Can't Break Me As Long As I Know Who I Am
by Havah Kinny
Summary: Kyle/Declan. Declan shows up at Kyle's door late one night soaking wet and bleeding. That night, it's Declan's turn to trust Kyle with a secret that gets Kyle questioning the parameters of their friendship; just how deep the connection is.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N Ok, so this chapter is REALLY short because it's more of an intro than anything, I hope you enjoy it!**_

_**-Havah**_

"Declan?" Kyle opened his door to see his friend standing there, drenched by the rain that had been pouring down. There were cuts on Declan's face and rain was mixing with blood. He was shivering in nothing but a pair of jeans and a short sleeved shirt, and Kyle opened the door wider so that he could enter. "What happened?"

"I…" Declan's breathing was shallow as he entered the room. "I didn't know where else to go, I…my dad found something of mine that he didn't like and he just went off on me."

"Your father did this to you?" Kyle asked in horror as he threw Declan a towel.

"Yeah…" Declan nodded. "Look, don't tell anyone, ok? Especially Lori, she doesn't need to get the whole pity brigade going, everything'll be ok in the morning, I just need to stay here…again, if that's alright?"

"It's fine," Kyle nodded. "You can have the tub if you want."

"Don't be an idiot," Declan shook his head. "I'm fine on the floor. I just need something that isn't loaded with six pounds of water to sleep in, got anything?"

"Uh, yeah," Kyle nodded, heading to his dresser, confused about how Declan could remain so calm after being hit by his father. He furrowed his brow as he rifled through his drawer, extracting a pair of black, flannel pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt. "Here." He handed the clothes to the shivering teen, who quickly stripped down to his boxers, donning the dry clothing.

"Thanks," Declan nodded gratefully towards Kyle. "You really have a tendency for keeping me out of trouble."

"I just like to help," Kyle shrugged, taking the spare blankets from the armoire. "I'm sorry that your father hit you."

"It's not your fault," Declan shrugged.

"It's not yours either," Kyle looked Declan in the eye as he spoke, handing over the blankets and a pillow.

"How do you know that?" Declan asked, not sure that he believed what Kyle was saying.

"Sometimes I just know things," Kyle shrugged. "I guess that's just one of them."

"Right," Declan snorted with laughter as he tossed the pillow onto the floor, followed by the sheet and quilt. "You're just being Kyle, how could I forget?" Declan lay down on the makeshift bed, trying to mask the sharp intake of breath that bordered a wince of pain as he pulled the blankets around him.

"I don't know," Kyle shrugged, shutting off the lights and climbing into the bathtub. He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep, but he couldn't manage to let the relaxing state over come him, and he could hear Declan's heartbeat, irregular and heightened even an hour and a half later, letting Kyle know that the other boy was still awake too. "Declan?" Kyle asked, sitting up in the tub and looking at Declan.

"Yeah?" Declan answered Kyle, but did not sit up or face him.

"What did your dad find that made him want to hit you?"

"Oh," Declan bit his lip. "Um, can you keep a secret?"

"You kept mine," Kyle nodded.

"He found a letter…" Declan took a deep breath. "A letter from my ex."

"Lori?" Kyle asked.

"Um, no," Declan shook his head. "This was a letter from Max."

"Max?" Kyle was confused. "Max is-"

"Max was my boyfriend last year," Declan whispered.

"You're gay?" Kyle asked, confused.

"Not exactly," Declan shook his head. "I'm bisexual, sometimes it's one, sometime's it's another."

"Why did your dad hit you?" Kyle pressed.

"He thinks that love is between a man and a woman," Declan sighed. "And he's never going to change his mind about that…now he thinks I'm everything that he's afraid of."

"I'm sorry," Kyle sighed, lying back down.

"Don't be," Declan shrugged. "It was my fault for not shredding it, don't lose sleep over it, night."

"I won't, night." Kyle promised. He soon heard Declan's heartbeat regulate, but his own was far from stable and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise to Declan.


	2. Chapter 2

When Declan awoke, Kyle was already up and out of the room. He slowly got to his feet, ignoring his aching body, ankle included. He wanted to go check where Kyle had gotten to, but he knew that he wasn't supposed to be there, especially not in the middle of the night unannounced, the way that he had. Instead, he picked up one of the books that Kyle had lying around the room and sat back, reading for a few minutes before the door opened. "Oh, you're awake," Kyle smiled as he entered.

"Yup," Declan nodded, setting the book down.

"How are you?" Kyle asked.

"I'm fine," Declan shrugged. "I'm thinking that I'll just go sneaking out the way I came and head home.

"You're going to go back after your father hit you?" Kyle asked confused. "Why would you do that?"

"Because," Declan shrugged. "It's my house, it's my dad."

"But he hurt you," Kyle's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Why would you want to go back to that?"

"He was angry," Declan shrugged. "He didn't actually want to hurt me."

"You look pretty hurt," Kyle countered.

"It looks worse than it is," Declan shook his head. "I'll just wash your clothes and bring them back, ok?"

"Declan," Kyle sighed. "I don't think that you should go back there yet."

"Kyle," Declan chuckled. "It'll be fine, don't worry about me, ok? I can hold my own."

"I know you can," Kyle shrugged. "But I don't know if you will."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Declan frowned.

"It means that we have the abilities to do a lot of things that we chose not to do because we're afraid of what might happen if we do." Kyle paused and looked at Declan. "There are places that you can get help, hotlines for children who's parents abu-"

"I'm not a child and I'm not abused," Declan snapped. "Don't imply things that you don't understand, ok? He hit me once."

"You're lying," Kyle sighed. "Your eyes are darting around the room and your heart rate is increasing."

"There's no getting things by you, is there?" Declan sighed, still a little angry.

"Not much, no," Kyle shook his head.

"Oh well," Declan shrugged, grabbing his still slightly damp clothing from the night before. "I'm still going home."

"Decl-"

"I can deal with this Kyle, ok?" Declan snapped again. "Don't get involved, it's my business." Declan slipped his shoes back on and exited the room. Kyle could have easily caught up to him, but Declan had made his decision, and Kyle didn't want to invade his privacy, so he just went back to the kitchen.

"Kyle, do you want breakfast?" Nicole asked.

"No thank you," Kyle shook his head, pouring a glass of orange juice. "I'm not hungry."

"Are you ok?" Nicole asked. "You seem distracted."

"Mom," Josh rolled his eyes. "It's Kyle, if he stepped on an ant he'd be distracted."

"Josh…" Nicole warned.

"Its fine," Kyle looked up, smiling. "I was just thinking about something."

"Wow, Kyle thinking, that's something for the record books," Josh said sarcastically, earning himself an admonishing glare from his mother. "Hey," Josh piped up. "My girlfriend has cancer."

"Had, yeah, that's past tense, Josh," his father reminded. "And you can't play that card, nice try though."

"Damn," Josh chuckled. "Whatever." Josh shrugged and cleared his plate. "I'm going to Andy's."

"Room clean?" his mother asked.

"Check," Josh nodded.

"Homework done?"

"It's Saturday!" Josh objected.

"Homework started?" his father amended.

"Yes, sir!" Josh saluted, earning him an eye roll from his parents, and a small laugh from Kyle. "I won't be back for dinner."

"Alright, just don't have too much fun!" his mother called after him.

"Too much fun?" Kyle looked at Nicole, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"It's an expression," Nicole chuckled. "Now you're sure that you're not hungry?"

"Yes," Kyle nodded, taking his orange glass. "Is Lori up?"

"Yeah," Nicole nodded. "I think she's in her room with her guitar."

"Ok," Kyle nodded, exiting the room with his juice and heading up the stairs. He knocked on Lori's door hesitantly, not sure that he wanted to interrupt her. "Lori?" he asked. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure Kyle, what's up?" she held the door open, letting Kyle inside.

"If I tell you something can you promise to keep it a secret?" he asked, moving to sit on the edge of her bed, looking awkwardly at his feet.

"Sure," Lori nodded. "What's up Kyle?"

"I think Declan's in trouble at home," Kyle sighed, biting his lip.

"What makes you say that?" Lori asked, her eyes wide.

"I can't exactly tell you," Kyle said. "He doesn't want people to know."

"Oh," Lori thought for a minute. "_Oh!_ Kyle, did he tell you about…" she bit her lip hesitantly. "Did he tell you about Max?"

"You know?" Kyle asked curiously.

"Yeah," Lori nodded. "He told me awhile ago, it's part of the whole best friend thing, I think."

"Oh," Kyle nodded. "Well yeah, he did…but he also told me that his dad found out."

"Oh shit!" Lori's eyes widened. "That's not good."

"No," Kyle shook his head.

"When did he tell you all of this?" Lori asked.

"Last night… he kind of stayed the night because he didn't want to go back to his house, but don't tell him that I told you, he said not too." Kyle sighed. "I wasn't supposed to tell you anything, but I'm worried about him."

"You did the right thing, Kyle," Lori nodded. "I'll give him a call later and see if he wants to hang out, we can all go to a movie or just watch something here. And don't worry, I won't tell him that you said a thing."

"Ok," Kyle nodded. "Thank you."

"Thanks for telling me," Lori rolled her eyes. "Lord knows Declan never would have, he thinks that he can handle everything on his own."

"A lot of people seem to think that," Kyle nodded. "But you know how much he helped me, I just want to help him too."

"Of course you do," Lori smiled. "That's who you are."


End file.
